


close quarters

by prowlish



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Energy Fields, Episode Related, Flirting, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 02:17:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13649367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prowlish/pseuds/prowlish
Summary: Drift and Ratchet sit rather close on the transport away from the Necroworld.





	close quarters

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends I have literally been trying to write this silly short thing since Lost Light #13's release but life didn't want to be that kind to me. But focusing on it the last few days has helped me keep my sanity under wraps. Hopefully I'll be back on track soon.
> 
> This is pretty much just intended to be a nice little precursor to their opening conversation in the issue. It contains no real spoilers, so no worries if you aren't caught up. :)

They’re sitting so close that just the simple act of reaching in his subspace is enough to jostle Ratchet’s shoulder. “Sorry,” Drift said automatically — but it didn’t stop him from continuing to shift until he got what he was after: a polishing cloth.

 

Ratchet grunted, dismissive. “Not so long ago, we were in a smaller space than this.”

 

Drift laughed softly. “Yeah, I guess so.” He rubbed the cloth over imaginary scuffs on his knee guard. “It was more comfortable. No offense to our fellow crew.”

 

Ratchet glanced at him, but Drift kept polishing the same spot on his armor. The medic snorted. “Right,” he said. Then, diving right past any implication (something they were both talented at), he added, “So it’s ‘fellow crew’, now?”

 

It was Drift’s turn to glance his way, but now Ratchet was digging in his own subspace for something and not looking at him. Neither chose outwardly to acknowledge their shoulders rubbing together, although their EM fields had settled into a familiar intermingling. “Sure,” Drift said. “Why not?”

 

Ratchet shrugged. With each little contact, their fields seemed to knit together more. “Not that long ago, you weren’t too sure about wearing that badge again, either.”

 

Drift frowned. “We already talked about that,” he said.

 

“Guess so,” Ratchet said, finally selecting the tool he’d been hunting and fiddling with a component on his wrist. 

 

Sighing, Drift shifted so that he could unsheathe a sword. He began polishing the blade now. “Do we need to talk about it more?” 

 

Another grunt. “No. Just an observation.”

 

“Right,” Drift muttered, resettling his grip upon the sword.

 

The relative silence — of their conversation, anyway, the crowded transport was anything but quiet — was tense, but not hostile. Their fields still remained woven together, a solace from their crowded, chaotic surroundings into something they’d grown familiar with. After several more moments, Ratchet let out a sigh. “Drift.”

 

“Yes?”

 

He paused in his work, taking a moment to think. “It  _ is _ crowded. Don’t let that make you all grumpy, now.”

 

Drift quirked an optic ridge. “Me?” he asked.

 

“Yeah,” Ratchet said, his lips pursed in a way Drift knew to mean he was suppressing a smile. Of course, the brief flash of mirth across their fields was also telling. “That role is already spoken for.”

 

Drift laughed again. “I see,” he said. “I’ll try not to step on your toes.”

 

“Better not.”

 

They went back to their respective tasks, Drift smiling and Ratchet studiously not-smiling. Uncountable moments passed, though they felt drawn out with the surrounding tension and emotion that even their pocket of solace in shared EM field immersion couldn’t totally shield them from. On the heels of facing down the DJD and a trip into an alternate universe, it was understandable… but it didn’t change how exhausting it was, or the need Drift had to keep burning off nervous energy by polishing both sides of the blade. He’d started in on the second when he suddenly paused, letting his helm fall back with a dramatic sigh. “I never thought I’d say this.” 

 

Ratchet didn’t glance away from his hands as he replied, “What?”

 

“I miss that blasted shuttle.” 

 

Ratchet barked a laugh. “Even though it was smaller than this?”

 

Drift shrugged. “It was less crowded,” he replied. Drift knew it sounded absurd — that shuttle had been of a size to make two feel like a crowd. But… He swept the polishing cloth in another pass over the already shining blade of his sword. Their shoulders brushed together and Drift let his field flare even more, making a point of how tightly woven they were. “I got used to this.”

 

Ratchet was still and quiet and didn’t turn his head. “Me too.” The eventual reply was so quiet it was almost lost in the background sounds of Anode and Velocity bickering and Whirl being Whirl. 

 

Drift sighed again. “If it weren’t for all this, I think could recharge for a whole week.” 

 

“Can’t even nap?” he asked.

 

Drift shook his helm. “No. Nowhere comfortable to rest my head, anyway.” 

 

“Really? With all the bumping against each other we’ve been doing?” 

 

Drift blinked, but eventually another smile tugged at his lips. “Rubbing shoulders is different from sleeping on one of yours,” he remarked. Ratchet only spared a sideways glance, as if the obviousness of that statement didn’t deserve a remark. Or as if it would be the first time Drift would have nodded off while resting his helm against him. He smirked. “People will talk.” 

 

Ratchet made another sound which might have been a suppressed laugh. “People talk already.” But then, what were they supposed to do when Ratchet finally resigned in order to go look for Drift?

 

Drift grinned as he peered over again. “Like I said, I miss it.”

 

Sparks flew at Ratchet’s wrist as he fired up his medical tool again. “I can understand.” After a long moment, he realized Drift hadn’t looked away, and that he seemed a bit more serious. Smile faded, optic ridges furrowed.  _ That _ was unusual, given how obviously Drift had enjoyed the flirtation. Despite the near symbiosis they’d just displayed, he said the first deflective thing he could think of: “Are you staring at my aura again?”

**Author's Note:**

> ...I loved that line so much I couldn't resist finding a way to throw it in at the end.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Say hi on [twitter](https://twitter.com/decepticats) or anywhere else through [here](https://about.me/ziggys). <3
> 
> -z


End file.
